Notre Dame added another prospect to their 2014 recruiting class, with Illinois tight end Nic Weishar pledging his commitment yesterday. Weishar had a nice list of offers that included Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Wisconsin and others.
Weishar, who hails from the south side of the Chicagoland area and Marist High, has visited Notre Dame multiple times and was offered by the Irish staff a year ago. He decided to pull the trigger on his commitment after a flurry of moves on the recruiting carousel started a run on tight ends.
“I saw that Ian (Bunting) gave Michigan his verbal it definitely made me think about moving up my decision a bit,” Weishar told EdgyTim.com. “I had Notre Dame, Michigan and Northwestern as my favorites but again the vibe at Notre Dame and the overall mix always had them in front for me. Again like the other kids I didn’t want to be standing and watching a chance of a lifetime pass me by so I talked it over with my family and I called the coaches at Notre Dame and gave them my commitment.”
Before we get talk about what Weishar brings to the table, it’s interesting to track the dominoes falling. Earlier in the day, Irish target Jeb Blazevich committed (as expected) to Georgia. With Bunting, who had Notre Dame in his finalists, choosing Michigan, Weishar was in a place where he wanted to grab one of the few open seats on the bus, before it leaves without him.
That said, Weishar is far from a consolation prize. The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder played basically as a jumbo wide receiver last season, showing solid route running ability with nice hands and better than expected speed and feet. (Here’s a good link to a highlight video.)
The challenge will likely be getting the relatively thin Weishar to add the bulk necessary to play tight end, though that didn’t stop the Irish coaching staff from making a move on Mike Heuerman, another guy who clearly needed to get bigger. He’ll join a depth chart that might still be growing, with the Irish still chasing high end prospects like Tyler Luatua and Mark Andrews. All three players that fit the fairly unconventional mold Notre Dame is recruiting at that position.
Weishar is the seventh commitment to join the 2014 recruiting class.
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